5 Gallons of Apple Cyser and 5 Gallons of Apple Pumpkin Spice Cider - A few questions!

[SmashedPumpkins]

These are the first large batches around 5 gallons that I've put together. The others were 1 gallon. I racked both to secondary today. I attached a picture of the 2 in secondary. (Cyser in carboy and cider in bucket)

5 Gallons of Apple Cyser (43 days in primary)
I did not have a hydrometer yet for this batch.

• 3.75 Gallons of Kirkland Apple Juice
• 10 lbs Clover Honey
• 1 pack of Red Star Premier Classique
• 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient Added 3 days in (I was waiting for it to arrive)

5 Gallons of Apple Pumpkin Spice Cider (18 days in primary)
Everything but the xylitol was added on day 1. The OG was 1.072 and the FG was 1.000 making this roughly 9.71%. I took the measurement before adding the spices.

• 4.5 Gallons of Kirkland Apple Juice. (100% juice)
• 2 lbs of Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 pack of Red Star Premier Classique
• 5 tsp of Yeast Nutrient
• 35 grams of freshly cut ginger root (35.1 grams)
• 20 crushed allspice seeds (3.1 grams)
• 3 whole cloves crushed (less than 0.01 grams)
• 10 crushed nutmeg seeds (36.1 grams)
• 40 crushed cinnamon sticks - many were skinny and 2 inches (193 grams)
• I added 3/4th cup of Xylitol sweetener today.

Questions

• The apple cyser was still very sweet with honey left over. The alcohol taste was definitely stronger than the cider. I did not have a hydrometer reading but there was no activity that I saw for about a week. Does this mean the alcohol content was too high for the yeast to finish consuming the honey?
• There's a lot of headroom in the glass carboy, which contains the cyser, is this cause for concern? (Unless of course the honey starts being consumed again and releasing C02)
• For fun I mixed some cider and cyser in a cup and it was tasty! (Maybe because of the honey flavor) I am tempted to fill the head space of the carboy with the cider. I have not added any spices to the cyser as I consider this option. What are your thoughts?
• To my surprise, with all the cinnamon in the cider, I did not taste cinnamon at all. The other spices all came through and none seemed to be too overbearing. I know secondary will continue bringing out flavor but only the dissolved spice flavors remain. I was honestly hoping for cinnamon flavor the most. Should I add cinnamon sticks to the secondary?
• Was adding all of the spices to the cider primary a waste? It was only 18 days of primary. Perhaps I should have waited until secondary that may last a few months?
• Lastly, does the 9.71% ABV sound high? I was expecting it to be lower before taking the OG. The temperature of the brew was in the 80's due to dissolving the brown sugar. I used an online calculating to adjust the OG for temperature.

Overall I'm pleased with the flavor of both without any aging so far. I don't have much to compare to though. I was hoping to adjust the spices by taste for a later batch but this is harder than it sounds. Thanks for the help.

 

[bmd2k1]

These are the first large batches around 5 gallons that I've put together. The others were 1 gallon. I racked both to secondary today. I attached a picture of the 2 in secondary. (Cyser in carboy and cider in bucket)

5 Gallons of Apple Cyser (43 days in primary)
I did not have a hydrometer yet for this batch.

• 3.75 Gallons of Kirkland Apple Juice
• 10 lbs Clover Honey
• 1 pack of Red Star Premier Classique
• 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient Added 3 days in (I was waiting for it to arrive)

5 Gallons of Apple Pumpkin Spice Cider (18 days in primary)
Everything but the xylitol was added on day 1. The OG was 1.072 and the FG was 1.000 making this roughly 9.71%. I took the measurement before adding the spices.

• 4.5 Gallons of Kirkland Apple Juice. (100% juice)
• 2 lbs of Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 pack of Red Star Premier Classique
• 5 tsp of Yeast Nutrient
• 35 grams of freshly cut ginger root (35.1 grams)
• 20 crushed allspice seeds (3.1 grams)
• 3 whole cloves crushed (less than 0.01 grams)
• 10 crushed nutmeg seeds (36.1 grams)
• 40 crushed cinnamon sticks - many were skinny and 2 inches (193 grams)
• I added 3/4th cup of Xylitol sweetener today.

Questions

• The apple cyser was still very sweet with honey left over. The alcohol taste was definitely stronger than the cider. I did not have a hydrometer reading but there was no activity that I saw for about a week. Does this mean the alcohol content was too high for the yeast to finish consuming the honey?
• There's a lot of headroom in the glass carboy, which contains the cyser, is this cause for concern? (Unless of course the honey starts being consumed again and releasing C02)
• For fun I mixed some cider and cyser in a cup and it was tasty! (Maybe because of the honey flavor) I am tempted to fill the head space of the carboy with the cider. I have not added any spices to the cyser as I consider this option. What are your thoughts?
• To my surprise, with all the cinnamon in the cider, I did not taste cinnamon at all. The other spices all came through and none seemed to be too overbearing. I know secondary will continue bringing out flavor but only the dissolved spice flavors remain. I was honestly hoping for cinnamon flavor the most. Should I add cinnamon sticks to the secondary?
• Was adding all of the spices to the cider primary a waste? It was only 18 days of primary. Perhaps I should have waited until secondary that may last a few months?
• Lastly, does the 9.71% ABV sound high? I was expecting it to be lower before taking the OG. The temperature of the brew was in the 80's due to dissolving the brown sugar. I used an online calculating to adjust the OG for temperature.

Overall I'm pleased with the flavor of both without any aging so far. I don't have much to compare to though. I was hoping to adjust the spices by taste for a later batch but this is harder than it sounds. Thanks for the help.

Personnally....I find adding any flavors (cinnamon sticks, fruit concentrates etc etc) is best after fermentation...as ya have better control that way.

Ur batches look great!

Cheers & good luck [emoji111]

 

[RPh_Guy]

40 crushed cinnamon sticks

WOW. I thought I liked cinnamon.
I don't know why you aren't tasting it. How old are these sticks and what kind of cinnamon? How were they stored?
I guess add more if you want more.
It's best to add spices in secondary, but not always necessary.

Does this mean the alcohol content was too high for the yeast to finish consuming the honey?

In this case, yep.

There's a lot of headroom in the glass carboy, which contains the cyser, is this cause for concern?

Yes, fruit juice will oxidize. Top it up with liquid or glass marbles. Or get smaller carboys.

does the 9.71% ABV sound high?

https://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/
Alternate equation from 1.072 to 1.000 gives 9.8% ABV.
Calculated ABV is just an estimate. And since you didn't measure gravity at the calibration temp of your hydrometer it could have been off.

Glad it all worked out!
I tried kirkland juice and was not happy with dry cider it produced with Premier Cuvee.

 

[SmashedPumpkins]

WOW. I thought I liked cinnamon.
I don't know why you aren't tasting it. How old are these sticks and what kind of cinnamon? How were they stored?
I guess add more if you want more.
It's best to add spices in secondary, but not always necessary.

In this case, yep.

Yes, fruit juice will oxidize. Top it up with liquid or glass marbles. Or get smaller carboys.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/
Alternate equation from 1.072 to 1.000 gives 9.8% ABV.
Calculated ABV is just an estimate. And since you didn't measure gravity at the calibration temp of your hydrometer it could have been off.

Glad it all worked out!
I tried kirkland juice and was not happy with dry cider it produced with Premier Cuvee.

I've always been a big fan of cinnamon. I purchased 2 lbs of cinnamon sticks on Amazon for $15. They seemed fine but maybe they were old.

Personnally....I find adding any flavors (cinnamon sticks, fruit concentrates etc etc) is best after fermentation...as ya have better control that way.

Ur batches look great!

Cheers & good luck [emoji111]

Thanks. I'll try a batch with spices in secondary.

 

[SmashedPumpkins]

I siphoned about 2 gallons of the cider secondary into the apple cyser secondary. I was surprised how much I could transfer. I must have lost a lot in the move from the primary to secondary. This will dilute the cyser alcohol content and perhaps start up a little more fermentation of the honey with any floater yeast.

This really dropped the cider level so I added 1.5 gallons of apple juice. That's a lot of sugar so hopefully there's enough yeast in there to fermentate. I plan to leave everything in secondary now for a month or so. I'll age it for as long as I can resist drinking it.